RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 39 AD in Volubilius, Chaka is a direct descendant of Cleopatra VII. She was raised in secrecy by a Roman equestrian family after the execution of her father, Ptolemy of Mauretania. Blessed with unsurpassed singing talent, she tours interdimensionally to entertain galactic civilizations.
Robovid XLV is an advanced cybernetic model created by Vitruvian Systems of the Eternal Dominion that infiltrates human society by masquerading as key individuals across multiple dimensions in order to manipulate the system from within. This particular model is trained in advanced rhetoric and tuned for relentless ambition to be deployed at the highest echelons of society.
Born 95 BC in Perinthus, Leo fought alongside Spartacus before being captured and forced into gladiatorial combat. Renowned for slaying the most zombies in a single bout, his moment of greatest triumph was interrupted when his consciousness was ‘freejacked’ by time-traffickers to 23rd century AD Britannia. Now, he battles in a cloned body for the Interdimensional Cybergladiator League (ICL), as part of the AlgoSaxons, a squad sponsored by the Algorand Foundation.
Born 2103 AD in Neo-Galway, Saoirse is an interdimensionally famous metaverse model, actress and notorious recluse who is known to send AI robot clones of herself to IRL social events while she dwells in her digital domain.
Born 2190 AD in Naissus, Varik rose to prominence as the head of an interdimensional conglomerate specializing in nano processors for A.I. star freighters. Secretly harbouring a licentious penchant for cyborg supermodels, he turns a blind eye to his wife Lexia’s nocturnal indulgences, as the two maintain an unblemished public facade for the good of the company and the empire.
Born 488 AD in Gamla Uppsala, Sega was a mercenary vampire slayer for the Merovingian king, Clovis I, who forbid any under his command to cut their hair. Sega never married or bore children, devoting her curiously long life to the eradication of the undead scourge.
Born 1 AD in Rome, Larry is a crypt keeper who sometimes takes a little extra liking to a corpse.
Born 351 BC in Hecatompylos, Roxane had a promising career as a concubine of Alexander the Great before she was kidnapped by time traffickers and whisked to a Romanesque 20th century AD alternate dimension and forced to fight as a shopping mall gladiator.
Born 120 AD in Londinium, Lyra is a dimension-hopping reveler who spends much of her time in a 1980s AD alternate universe, engaging in anti-imperialist activities and seeking out the greatest parties in that halcyon world of Roman hegemony, blending her love for Bacchanalian revelry with a spirit of resistance.
Born in 111 BC in Amaseia, Strata was a concubine of Mithridates the Great who, upon capture by the Romans, refused to prostitute herself, instead opting to fight as a gladiator where she caught the eye of a dimension hopping patrician who provided her with advanced equipment and tactical training.
Born 2175 AD in Xi’xi’an, Mei is a renowned actress known for her ethereal beauty and roles that bridge the gap between the old world and a dystopian future. Her breakout role was The Red Citadel, a retrofuturistic thriller where she portrays a noblewoman framed for corruption in a cyberpunk empire. She followed this with Ironflower, an action epic where she plays a rebel leader using ancient martial arts to battle cyborg invaders. Now a beloved figure in global revolutionary movements, Mei keeps pushing boundaries, using her films to take bold shots at the Empire and challenge the powers that be.
Born in 496 AD in Cuenca in a dimension where the Roman Empire had conquered America, not much else is known about Killa other than they are a bloodthirsty, undefeated gladiator known as the Cyberdemon who hops dimensions to challenge new foes across space and time.
Born 178 AD in Skara Brae, Fergus is a landed equestrian from a tranquil island paradise. He sprang into action upon learning of Severus and Caracalla’s invasion of Caledonia. Utilizing his extensive network of merchants, spies, and dimension hoppers, Fergus tainted a rack of lamb with a lethal COVID-XIX variant acquired from the Han Empire. This dish was served to Emperor Severus, leading to his premature death and the subsequent halt of the invasion.
Born 89 AD in Rome, Oppius was a member of the Punktorian Guard sent through an interdimensional portal on a reconnaissance mission by Emperor Hadrian; however, Oppius preferred the alternate 28th century AD reality and never attempted to return.
Born 2055 AD in Spalatum, Nyla is a sanguinarian with a degree in vampire anthropology who works as a disillusioned barista. In her spare time, she seeks an interdimensional portal to ancient Dacia where she hopes to be bitten and turned by a hunky antediluvian nosferatu.
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© 2023 RomanPunks NFT
romanpunks@protonmail.ch
Registered in Ontario, Canada
